RIVAL factions within City of York Council have unveiled their spending and saving proposals as the authority prepares to thrash out its financial plans for the year ahead.

The council’s Conservative group has revealed it would raise council tax by 1.9 per cent – 0.8 per cent beneath the level drawn up by the ruling Liberal Democrats - ahead of tomorrow’s crunch 2010/11 budget meeting.

The Tories also propose saving more than £500,000 by cutting council newspaper and consultation costs, reviewing travel and subsistence spending and the need to fill vacancies in administration and ‘back-office roles’, limiting council pay rises to 0.75 per cent and reducing the size of the authority’s executive by one member.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Coun David Scott says his party’s amendments, maintaining a 2.7 per cent council tax increase, are “a purge on waste” and “a helping hand to every resident”.

They include free breakfast-club eating for those receiving free school meals, extending the YOzone bus card discounts, a £25 reduction in council tax for over-75s, reducing council expenditure on staff buffets, taxis and venue hire and setting up an authority-wide apprenticeship scheme.

Labour would also invest more than £150,000 in a Statutory Bus Partnership to improve services and offer £1,000 each in venue hire support to the Festival of Remembrance and York’s Community Carol Concert.

“Our amendment is very much influenced by the More for York efficiency programme and forms the cornerstone of the council’s budget philosophy,” said Conservative leader Coun Ian Gillies.

“My group strongly supports this programme and first proposed two years ago that economies could be made and the council could do more with less. More for York is the natural outcome of this process.

“None of the savings we have proposed will have an impact on front-line services, but provide further efficiency savings.”

Coun Scott said: “Our budget will offer help to the young, the elderly and the vulnerable – these amendments are true to Labour values and we are firm in our commitment to helping those who need it.

“We will cut through the culture of waste – this is where the Lib Dems are happy to see money frittered away without assessing whether it is really needed – and we will reverse silly cuts such as £2,000 on bowling green maintenance which is unnecessarily punitive on the local sports clubs which utilise these facilities.”